While renewable energy is on track to deliver its share of
the savings, Jones said industries are falling behind in efforts
to build projects employing nuclear power, carbon capture and
storage, biofuels, efficiency measures and technology that cuts
emissions from coal plants.

“Under current policies, we estimate that energy use and
CO2 emissions would increase by a third by 2020, and almost
double by 2050,” Jones said. “This would likely boost global
temperatures at least 6 degrees Celsius. Such an outcome would
confront future generations with significant economic,
environmental and energy security hardships.”

Jones was addressing the third meeting of the so-called
Clean Energy Ministerial group, hosted by U.K. Energy Secretary
Ed Davey and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Ministers from 23
economies accounting for 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions
and 90 percent of global clean energy investment are attending
to help devise policies that cut carbon emissions.

Saving Money

Chu told ministers that one of the biggest gains to be made
in reducing emissions was to ratchet up the efficiency standards
for household appliances, a measure he described as a “no-brainer.” Construction efficiency standards also represent an
opportunity to cut carbon, he said.

“It will save your citizens money and your country
energy,” Chu said. “There’s a tremendous opportunity to build
an infrastructure that literally could be twice as efficient as
the ones that were built in the previous century.”

Davey from the U.K. said that ministers have a challenge in
making sure clean energy investment “soars” even in a
“sluggish” economy. Britain’s economy shrank in the first
quarter, pushing the nation into the first double-dip recession
since the 1970s, according to figures published today.

Recession Risk

“The risk is that recession delays low-carbon investment,
leaving us a high-carbon legacy even when the global economy
recovers and making meaningful action on climate change more
expensive,” Davey said. “We don’t start from a good place.
Eighty percent of our emissions from energy are already locked
in, and the emissions gap is growing.”

The U.K. today announced plans to offer 35 million pounds
($57 million) in funds to support entrepreneurs who start
businesses developing and demonstrating low-carbon technologies.
U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg yesterday pledged 25
million pounds of new aid to help scale up renewable energy in
developing nations.

Global investment in clean energy dropped $27 billion in
the first quarter, its lowest since the depths of the financial
crisis three years ago, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said on
April 12. The research group’s Chief Executive Officer Michael
Liebreich told delegates today that new banking rules are making
it harder for wind farms to get financing, while trade friction
between the world’s biggest economies is also hindering wind,
solar and other forms of renewables.

Jones said that for every euro not spent on carbon
reductions before 2020, 4.3 euros will be required afterwards to
get the world back on a track to 2 degrees of warming rather
than the 6 degrees that may result from current policies.

Prior to the ministerial discussions, members of United
Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s “Sustainable Energy for
All” panel met yesterday in London.

The group, led by Bank of America chairman Chad Holliday
and UN-Energy Chairman Kandeh Yumkella, devised an “action
agenda” to advise governments on how ton increase energy access
for the poorest people while promoting efficiency and
renewables.